When the Duke of Zhenguo's household brought home the eldest daughter born to his first wife, everyone assumed that the young lady, who had been raised on a country estate, would be meek and gentle, like a white lotus swaying softly in the breeze.
She was summoned from the countryside at the last minute so the Duke of Zhenguo could honor his betrothal agreement with the Seventh Prince. Her birth mother had died young, her stepmother was unkind, her father ignored her, and her future fiancé strongly disapproved of the Duke of Zhenguo's household's conduct.
But...
On her very first day back at the estate, the stepmother who had made things difficult for her during the day saw a ghostly shadow in her room that night and was frightened so badly she took to her bed.
Three months after her return, the Emperor attended the Glazed Glass Banquet. Assassins burst in, and the eldest young lady kicked up a table to block a crossbow bolt aimed at the Emperor. "Why hasn't the Imperial Guard protected His Majesty yet? Are you all useless?"
Six months after her return, the Emperor fell into a coma after being poisoned, and the Crown Prince rebelled. The Seventh Prince gathered his trusted aides and the court's senior officials in the palace to discuss the crisis. The eldest young lady arrived with a sword in hand, her expression cold. "Xuanji, leader of the Shadow Guard Battalion, presents herself before Your Highness."
Her light armor was stained with blood, and the three-foot blade in her hand gleamed coldly.
The Seventh Prince and his trusted aide, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, slowly gaped.
The Imperial Guard's commander, Lord Zheng, thought to himself: My wife is so cool!
The leaders of the Shadow Guard Battalion throughout history had all been madmen. Gu Luoda was a madwoman with the people in her heart.
P.S. The male lead isn't the Seventh Prince! The marriage substitution never happened! The male lead is the Imperial Guard's commander. This is a female-led power fantasy, with no stronger male lead and no plot where the heroine runs to her husband whenever she has a problem (I hate that)!!!
[Original blurb posted on December 17, 2020. Evidence preserved on Weibo. Plagiarism will be pursued.]
Theme: Who says women are inferior to men? She can command intelligence networks, root out corrupt officials, attend court as a woman, wield power, and establish academies. Why be confined to the four walls of the home?